laager or lager

1. A camp, especially one protected by a circle of wagons or armored vehicles.
2. An entrenched policy or viewpoint.

verb tr., intr.

To enclose in a defensive encirclement.

ETYMOLOGY:

From the obsolete Afrikaans word lager (camp), from Dutch or German Lager (camp).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root legh- (to lie or lay) that is also
the source of lie, lay, lair, fellow.

USAGE:

"[The scientists] should repudiate the laager mentality and evasions of
the East Anglia researchers. Instead of grudgingly yielding to Freedom of
Information requests, they should publish their data and workings online
wherever possible."
Ian Katz; The Case for Climate Action; The Guardian (London, UK); Feb 8, 2010.

Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983)